Is Church Governance Being Captured by CMM in the Free State?

The introduction of the double capped CMM in Free State and Lesotho, is church governance being captured?

This article is based on a post published by Brother I. L. Phara on the 04^th May 2016 on the URCSA Facebook group.

CMM is an abbreviation of the Christian Men's Ministry of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). However, in the Free State and Lesotho Synod, it seems like the "C" at the beginning has been doubled and Christ as the centre of the ministry was removed. It now looks like it has become "CCMM" — an abbreviation for Church Council Men's Ministry. I am saying this because since inception in the Free State and Lesotho Synod, we have noticed with great distress that it is a ministry at loggerheads with ministers of the Word. It is also a ministry that wants to take total control of the church by taking control of church councils.

When this ministry was introduced in my home church of URCSA Botshabelo West Congregation in Botshabelo, I was already a Christian Youth Ministry (CYM) member. Most of the people who joined CMM were former CYM members, and they had led me. I was happy to see my leaders graduating to the newly formed ministry of men in our church. I was reminded of the words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:11 when he said: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

I thought that our church was finally going to realise the much needed growth — since men had taken a stand to be part of the game changers. I told myself that the time for the devil to shut his big mouth had come, that he would no longer have an opportunity to play around in the church of Christ. I did not know that I was going to see a duplicate of the church council.

I say a duplicate of the church council because CMM has never had clear programmes of its own since inception in the Free State and Lesotho Synod. Its only programme was a desire to take dominion of the church. Their first mandate was to capture control of the church by dominating the church council. This enabled them to set the agenda for the church. This capturing happened even at presbytery level, where ministers were no longer expected to be leaders of the church, but had been relegated to being mere followers with only an advisory role.

CMM has strategically positioned itself well inside and outside the church councils. They make it a point that their leaders hold strategic positions in the church council — you often find them as both scribes and treasurers. Once this arrangement was disturbed you would see the beginning of fights with the minister or with other members of the church council who are not members of the ministry.

Maybe one must also include in this article the Reformed approach to governance that Rev Prof. S. T. Kgatla, former moderator of the General Synod, says is polycentric in nature and treasures multi-centres. Rev Prof. S. T. Kgatla further states that, "being polycentric is the basic and fundamental being of a local congregation which operates autonomously and independently from other congregations. The head of the church is Jesus Christ and all His followers are equal before Him."

I always tell people that everything about our church revolves around the local congregation. As a result, if 90% of strategic positions in the church council of a congregation are held by CMM members, then the church is captured. This means that the Reformed theology and presbyterian governance system of our church is replaced by control by one ministry.

Stipulation 1 of the Church Order states the following about the church as a worshiping and confessing community: "The congregation forms a community of believers in a specific place to serve God, each other and the world and congregations jointly." The stipulation further states: "Since the URCSA understands itself as part of the worldwide body of Christ, the one church from all ages and cultures called together by God's Word and Spirit, its congregations do not live in isolation but actively seek unity and cooperation with other URCSA congregations and with other churches who confess Christ." It is from this stipulation that we learn that "presbyters" (elders) are called to share experiences and to enable the fellowship of believers as per the teaching of Article 10 of the Apostles' Creed.

The community of URCSA is divided into three core ministries as recognised by the General Synod — CYM, CMM and CWM. There is also the regional ministry called CWL. Then you find people referred to as "ordinary congregants", who are not part of any ministry in the church. All these groups form the community of believers governed by the church council. However, if you go to any church council in the Free State and Lesotho Synod you will always find that, in terms of representation, CMM dominates as if it is the most important ministry in our church.

It is against this background that I believe it is about time that the CMM, especially in the Free State and Lesotho Synod, is evaluated and theologised. I say theologised because URCSA needs visionary leadership, not one that fights church councils or ministers. We need leadership that is responsive to all complex issues in our church and that type of leadership we can only get once we are theologically informed.

Rev Prof. S. T. Kgatla (2015:2) says that, "The role of theology is to assist the church and its ministries with critical assessments and advice. Theology is the second activity, the church or ministry acts and theologians check whether the church or ministry has acted in terms of biblical standards. Furthermore, theologians check whether the church or ministry's motives are pure or impure. They have the right to investigate, assess and pronounce verdict about the life of the church."

Theologians understands that the whole world as alluded to by one of the fathers of Reformation, John Calvin, is "a theatre for the display of the divine goodness, wisdom, justice, and power, but the Church is the orchestra, as it were — the most conspicuous part of it; and the nearer the approaches are that God makes to us, the more intimate and condescending the communication of His benefits, the more attentively are we called to consider them."

In almost all the congregations in the Free State and Lesotho Synod were there are disputes with ministers or where there are no ministers at all, you will always find CMM being directly involved. Go to Heilbron, Sasolburg, Botshabelo, Thabong, Senekal and many other parts of the Free State and Lesotho Synod, and ask what caused the departure of the minister from the church. The answer will be CMM. Ask why a minister is now preaching his own words and not the Word of God, as he did when he first ascended the pulpit, and the answer will be CMM. Ask who started a boycott of some sort or any form of disruption in the governance of the church, and the answer will likely be CMM. This is not what we expected from CMM when it was launched in Hamanskraal in 2008.

We expected a CMM that has clear programmes of growing the church. A ministry that would support the minister of the Word — not lift up his skirt in public to show his nakedness every time he wronged the congregation. We expected a ministry of men that would provide us as young student ministers with hope for a better URCSA. We expected a ministry that would understand the Church Order and had shifted from the traditional concept of leadership through titles and positions.

There is a need for radical change in the CMM, especially in the Free State and Lesotho Synod. As men in our church, we need you to be leaders who encourage creative ideas and stimulate change within the URCSA. We do not need you to resist transformation if it does not come in your name. The types of leaders we need from you are the ones who are not self-centred, are not self-preoccupied, do not have self-praise, are not jealous and are not cynical.

Young people expect you to understand the Church Order. Read it from cover to cover, so that you can discover the richness of the polity and the theology embedded within it. You should go beyond the stinging bees to get to the rich honey located deep within.

CMM in the Free State and Lesotho Synod, as a URCSA ministry that stands for Christ, needs a paradigm shift — lest we end up losing the church in power politics within the church council. Maybe it is about time that all CMM members do an introspection to determine whether they are doing what men are supposed to be doing in the church of Christ as heads — which is to respond at all times according to the guidance of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

As a ministry in our church you should be servants of Christ, and remain relevant to His calling — not soldiers at war with anyone who comes in the name of progress. You should ask God to increase your hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak and raise it up when it is overthrown.

The church council remains the only governing body of the church. All ministries, including CMM, must support the vision of the church council and not capture it by making it part of your ministry programme.

In conclusion, I am reminded of John Calvin when he said: "There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence." Church capture is one of the worst forms of deterrence to spiritual growth, hence my question: "Is church governance being captured by CMM?"

This is not a personal attack, but is rather intended for self reflection and to stimulate debate around the leadership of our church.

Article by I. L. Phara, writing in my personal capacity as a member of URCSA Botshabelo West Congregation.